How do you "re-cycle" PRIMED, ruined brass??

Every once in a while, I smash the neck of a case that has been sized and primed. I have and small box started with all of these but have no idea of what to do with them.
I certainly can't bring them to the recycler and don't know if I can even put them in the garbage.
Will anything happen if I toss them into a bonfire? Do they go boom? Do they launch in an unsafe mannor?

What do you do with your ruined, primed brass?

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katastrof0

May 3, 2008, 11:16 AM

Deep sea fishing.. When noones looking. plop-plop-plop:)

BB John

Walkalong

May 3, 2008, 11:22 AM

You can always just hit it with a hammer. :D

Do use ear protection.

Really. It won't hurt a thing.

Or cut off the neck with a dremel or something, decap, blow the primer out with air, and reuse. :)

tkendrick

May 3, 2008, 11:23 AM

Throw it in the trash.

It's not nearly as dangerous or as toxic as the aerosol cans that go in there every day.

ReloaderFred

May 3, 2008, 11:27 AM

I just punch out the primers and put the deprimed, deformed brass in the recycle box. If the neck is too mangled, then do as Walkalong suggests and cut off the neck and then deprime.

Hope this helps.

Fred

mek42

May 3, 2008, 11:33 AM

Lee depriming die?

Markbo

May 3, 2008, 11:37 AM

I have not read a single reloading manual that said decapping live primers was safe or suggested. Mine go in the trash.

Jacka L Ope

May 3, 2008, 11:41 AM

If you recycle brass, Walkalong's idea makes it available for that.

(Interwebthingy lag, ugh! :barf:)

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 11:44 AM

Assuming you wear safety glasses, as you should be doing with any reloading operation.

Taking them out is no more dangerous then putting them in.

When you de-prime a live primer, it is fully contained inside a steel reloading die.

With the press ram up where it has to be to push out the primer, even if it fired, the result would be fully contained inside the die, ram & press frame.

Besides, if you use firm steady pressure, they aren't going to go off anyway.

rcmodel

Markbo

May 3, 2008, 12:09 PM

And in a perfect world, you would never damage a piece of brass either. Hey... stuff happens.

Besides, if you look at the decapping die, the head is NOT completely enclosed... notice that the decapping pin extends below the die mouth:
http://www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dll/image?saleitemid=172544

evan price

May 3, 2008, 12:23 PM

As long as I can unmangle the case enough to decap it carefully, I do so. The primer's still good. The case goes in the recycle bucket.

If by some chance decapping is impossible, or the case is a Berdan or something so that I can't deprime it, it goes in the firepit outside. Then I screen the burnt brass out of the ashes and recycle it anyway. This is also what I do with rimfire stuff that's dead. My recycler won't accept brass that has a bullet in it.

If by some chance you absolutely can't deal with it any way, put them in a pop bottle and put them in the trash. It's no more dangerous than old flashlight batteries or aerosol cans.

TAB

May 3, 2008, 12:27 PM

chuck it up in a vise, tap it with a punch and a hammer.... throw it in the scrap bucket.

ReloaderFred

May 3, 2008, 12:29 PM

All I can say is, in 45 years of removing live primers from cartridges, I've yet to have one go off. My process is just as rcmodel describes, slow, steady pressure and they come right out. If you're worried, then wrap a heavy towel around the die and push out the primer.

I once decapped 1,000 old primed military .30-06 cases and never had one go off, but I did spray them with oil first. Several were in so tight, the decapping pin penetrated through the primers, but they never went off.

The great part is, it's your shop, and if you choose to not push them out, then that's fine. If you choose to push them out, then that's fine, too. Since you're the "plant manager", you set the policies...........

Hope this helps.

Fred

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 12:46 PM

the head is NOT completely enclosed... notice that the decapping pin extends below the die mouth:I don't think you fully comprehend what I said.

The head of the case & the primer is inside the shell-holder.
The shell-holder is inside the ram.
The ram is inside the cast iron press frame.

The primer & anvil is fully contained by all of those steel parts.
Nothing can get out of the ram until you raise the handle & lower the ram again.

Any flash out of the flash hole is contained by the de-capping pin & die.

tap it with a punch and a hammerThis is very dangerous advice.

In this situation, if the punch is allowed to slip slightly, the primer & anvil will not be contained, and will leave the primer pocket at "Escape Velocity" possibly severly injuring you.

rcmodel

TAB

May 3, 2008, 12:55 PM

I did 1500 old 30-06 like that and didn't have any probs.
the path of least resistance is down. thru the case. it could happen, but I've never even heard of it doing so.

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 01:04 PM

Me neither!

And like you, I have de-primed a lot of old corrosive GI ammo with crimped primers just to get the brass.

rcmodel

MinnMooney

May 3, 2008, 01:15 PM

To get the primers out I'd have to straighten the necks (since they're bunged down) and go to way too much work to either save the primers or even just remove them (except if I use the hammer/punch method).

If evan price tosses them in the bonfire and retrieves the brass later for recycling and it hasn't created any problems, I think I'll try that method. I only have a handful.

Thank you all for the comments.

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 01:31 PM

Just don't stand around the fire and watch!

If not contained, primers have plenty enough velocity to hurt you or put an eye out at close range when expelled from a primer pocket.

See this link:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=3845886&postcount=28

rcmodel

Walkalong

May 3, 2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:
tap it with a punch and a hammer
This is very dangerous advice.

I have a Lee kit for tapping out primers (dead ones) and have used it in the field in a pinch to decapp live ones, and have still NEVER set off a primer decapping them.

While it is not ideal, it is not necessarily dangerous assuming you take reasonable precations.

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 02:41 PM

The "advice" I was refering too was to clamp it in a vice and hit the live primer with a punch & hammer to set it off!

rcmodel

ForneyRider

May 3, 2008, 02:52 PM

I decap live primers with Lee Universal decapper.

If the brass is messed up, I take the pliers to them.

A universal decapper is pretty handy. I run the spent brass through the single stage to decap as first step in prepping the brass.

Funderb

May 3, 2008, 03:05 PM

stick them in the gun, shoot them, throw away.
eh?

fatelk

May 3, 2008, 03:24 PM

I have not read a single reloading manual that said decapping live primers was safe or suggested.

Most firearm instruction manuals also recommend against the use of reloads.

I have deprimed many, many live primers, only had one ever go off. It was 8mm surplus, headstamp "7.92 MM 44". I've been told it's Canadian surplus, good boxer primed brass, but the primer crimp is absolutely incredible and sometimes the decapping rod would punch through them.

One did go off once, "pop" and some smoke, no harm done. Just be careful.

res45

May 3, 2008, 06:06 PM

Down here in NC my recycle centers consider brass with primes in them as dirty brass so I would only get about half price for them if I didn't deprime them. If your worried about setting one off just put a drop of 3 in 1 oil or spray some WD-40 down the primer hole let it sit for a hour or so and its dead. I shoot allot of surplus ammo that is berdan primed brass cased, so to get full price for my scrap brass i cut the case off at the base throw the primed part in one can the clean brass in another and get full price for everything. Dremel tool make a quick job of the cutting a good rainy day project.
.

rcmodel

May 3, 2008, 06:53 PM

spray some WD-40 down the primer hole let it sit for a hour or so and its dead.Don't bet on it!

rcmodel

Ian Sean

May 3, 2008, 07:16 PM

De-primed hundreds of rounds over the years....personally like the Lee unversal decapper. Go nice and slow, I even re-used the primers.

I have chambered a few screw-ups from time to time in a rifle/pistol and pulled the trigger on a primer just to recycle the brass.

Walkalong

May 3, 2008, 07:52 PM

The "advice" I was refering too was to clamp it in a vice and hit the live primer with a punch & hammer to set it off!Aghh. I did not read it thoroughly enough. :o

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